Towing with a class C motorhome?

L

Leo Smith

New member
I'm looking at class C motorhomes with a Ford E350, v-10 rig. Most of these MH are rated for 5k towing capacity. Does anyone in this group tow with a C? The towing looks easy, the launching and retrieving might be a different story. Would you consider a backup camera to be an essential item on the MH for launching and retrieving? I appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks!
Leo
 
I don't have personal experience with a Class C, but I traveled once with a fishing buddy who used one to launch his 21' boat. He had a front hitch that he used to launch and it worked pretty slick. I often launch my 22 C-Dory with my truck and slide-in camper. Should be pretty similar to the motorhome. The best tip I could give is learn to use your mirrors and if possible have a spotter while you are backing up.
 
I think that's what George and Penny on WANDERER have, at least that's what they parked in my driveway when they visited in Maine.

Here's a LINK to a thread on motor home towing. You can see George and Penny's info there.

Charlie
 
I've been towing, launching with a 29' Class C, and a 22' C-Dory for the last 10 years and have had no problems. The Class C is on a Ford chassis with a 460 V8. I also have a 2' extended tongue on the trailer.

Backing the trailer is very doable, even in relatively tight spots and ramps that you have to dogleg to get into. A simple add on makes all the difference. I ran a fiberglass rod across the trailer (thru the holes in the
frame) at the rear of the frame, behind the fenders, just ahead of the tail of the frame. The rod sticks out beyond the fenders on either side. I have a bright colored ball on the end of each rod. If the trailer is lined up perfectly behind the motorhome you can just see each ball in the mirrors. Without this the trailer is obscured completely. With the ball set-up the attitude and placement of the trailer is always apparent and makes trailering and backing with a motorhome a piece of cake. It works works great for me.

You could carry that a step further and put a light on the end of the rods.

Good luck and enjoy!
 
I have a 22' Tiger motorhome and it tows great and is not a problem at the launch ramp. Helps to have a spotter, and a little practice with mirrors, but otherwise is not a problem.
 
Leo, I fully intend to tow the "Jenny B" behind a Class C just as soon as we can go back on the road again. Specifically, a Lazy Daze which has just as big a "cult following" as C-Dorys. I intend to install a Pioneer navigation system including backup camera in deference to spouse's inability to direct or spot. Running around with a full time Nav system on the boat and in our Toyota has spoiled us forever. Especially when it gives voice prompts for turns etc.

We've watched folks launch 25-28 foot boats from 29-32 ft. motorhomes - some amazingly fast, albeit not single-handing it, and I'm now convinced it's not the "big deal" I thought it would be. Backing a 26 ft. overall trailer with a 26 ft. "C" should be far easier than backing a 30 ft. 5th wheel into a tight resort back-in RV space, something we've done many times.
 
Leo,
I had a 20' Class C. Towing my 22' Cruiser wasn't a problem until I hit the hills, small 318 CI motor. Launching and retrieving was ok with a spotter and taking things slow watching both mirrors all the time. I looked into a front hitch but the front of my Dodge wasn't built to handle a hitch. Also, be careful about vehicle tow ratings and the hitch they install. Some vehicles are rated for higher towing then the hitch can handle. I also had a few years on my motorhome before I started pulling my C-Dory and I had rear wheel bearings on the motorhome go. I had to have two tow trucks, one for the boat and one for the motorhome. One campsite on the Sacramento River I either had to launch and retrieve the boat each day or beach the boat and sleep in the boat rather then the motorhome because of a lot of boat theft on the river during the nights. My family slept in the motorhome and I in the boat. Loved my motorhome and love my C-Dory.
 
Leo,

I don't have anything to add to the link that Charlie pointed you to. Other than the tow home from the dealer, we have towed with a Tahoe. One day I would like to take a trip where we tow with the motorhome, stay in a campground while we explore the area by land and water. When not camping, I'd rather leave the Tahoe than the motorhome at the launch site when we go off for weeks at a time.

If you have a long overhang behind your rear wheels and a steep ramp make sure you don't put your tail pipe underwater.

Good luck.
 
My motor home has a Chev. 6.0 motor and pulls the boat guite well. Have not had it on a 6% grade yet, but does well on hills.

When I pull with the MH I carry hip boots so I can get to the winch on the Trailer. Not needed with PU.

Jack on C-Otter
 
We are towing a C22 with a class c motor home with a 450E chassis. No problem. Mileage not too good though. :wink
 
Thanks for your responses! Coming from a boating background into the RV world, There is a lot to learn. The RV world is big on glitz. Sneaks (Don) has turned me on to Lay Daze, which appears to be the D-Dory of the class C world. The hype in this industry is amazing and the RV salepeople are an entertaining bunch too! It is too bad that C-Dory doesnt build class C Mh's. They could do well bringing their boat-building philosophy to the RV world.
Best Regards,
Leo
 
Thanks, Leo. In fact, this thread was the straw for us, and we ordered our new 23.5TK Lazy Daze just after my previous post. Expected to be delivered just before the July 4 weekend.

As for cult status, one need only read the lifewithalazydazerv group on Yahoo Groups to read a forum much like here. Owners say the LD is the be all end all wonderful RV, but between owners, they spend a lot of time cussing and discussing "custom improvements". Same as here. Like C-Dory, the LD factory totally (and fully) supports their owners.

In our decision process we poured over the RV consumer group data and the top three in overall quality, safety, capability and customer satisfaction were Lazy Daze, Bigfoot, and Born Free. AFAIC, the LD user group most resembled the Brats, so between the fact that the factory is only 90 miles away and the owners are pretty cool, we made our choice.

Don
 
Hi Don,
I just recieved my RV Consumer Group information yesterday. I started reading their book on evaluating RV's and what an eye-opener! The quality of the information I recieved from this organization is money well-spent. I will check out the Lazy Daze yahoo group. Thanks for the information!
Best regards,
Leo
 
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